Power company shows your outage status - on the web

[spidey07]

My power company is advertising this great new service. You get to check on the status of your power outage, estimated time to repair, etc. When I first heard the commercial I figured it was some automated voice response system where you call, they know your location by your home phone number and are provided info.

BUT NO! These idiots put it on the intarweb! Tell me how I'm supposed to check a web page when my power is out. My hard line is just fine but no power = no computer or intarweb.

 

[techie81]

LOL, at first I was like that's cool but than thought about it.

 

[Pollock]

mobile phone

 

[kami333]

Check from work/library/cafe?

If the power is down I usually go out, no sense sitting around at home without tv/internet.

 

[joeybaker]

Agree that it's a little backward, but it's a good thing for them to being thinking about/doing. I'd rather have the info available than not.

 

[mugs]

It's cheaper for them to have you call someone else and ask them to look it up on the web than it is for them to provide the IVR system.

 

[MikeyIs4Dcats]

Cox does the same thing for high speed internet.

 

[Beev]

mobile phone

This is what I came in here to post. Lots of people have internet access on their phone. If not, then they're kind of out of luck...

 

[spidey07]

Cox does the same thing for high speed internet.

/facepalm

You just know there was some meeting where some folks suggested it and they all rallied around an "awesome idea! Yeah! Let's do that!"

 

[ch33zw1z]

mobile phone

would be my guess..

 

[Jeff7]

Illiterate? Write to us for a free brochure!

 

[D1gger]

My cable modem and router are attached to a UPS so our laptops would have internet access for a couple of hours or more.

 

[Slick5150]

My cable modem and router are attached to a UPS so our laptops would have internet access for a couple of hours or more.

Same here. My power was out for upwards of a week last summer (tree fell during storm and took out the utility pole behind my house) but I had any number of ways of getting online. Either with my own cable modem/router attached to a UPS, or just using my laptop and connecting to neighbor across the street's wireless (that side didn't lose power), at work, on my cell, etc..

Not real hard to figure out a lot of ways this would be a useful service.

 

[theevilsharpie]

Tell me how I'm supposed to check a web page when my power is out.

Use your iPhone, Pops :awe:

 

[Turin39789]

Hey, thats my power company too.

I thought it sounded weird too, but it takes some of the weight off their phone lines when everyone calls in. You can have a family member who has power check it for you to see when you are expected to get running again or just to make sure they already know about it without having to call in.

Of course I'll just use my laptop + cell phone as modem and check it with the power out.

 

[FoBoT]

that is funny
but in my case, i can get online during storms/outages
i have a work laptop with a sprint 3g card, so during thunder storms i use it to watch the radar for tornados

 

[FoBoT]

Use your iPhone, Pops :awe:

 

[Doodoo]

I hear this complaint all the time...of course we realize you can't check it at home when you don't have power. Its really meant for mobile devices or for people to check at work.

 

[Crono]

I hear this complaint all the time...of course we realize you can't check it at home when you don't have power. Its really meant for mobile devices or for people to check at work.

Yeah, pretty obvious, really.

 

[FoBoT]

i think most people have their cable modem/dsl modem/router on a UPS, so if they have a laptop, they should be good to go

 

[spidey07]

i think most people have their cable modem/dsl modem/router on a UPS, so if they have a laptop, they should be good to go

ummm, no. Most people don't even know what a UPS is.

 

[her209]

Its like when the IT department mass e-mails everyone to tell them the e-mail system isn't working.

:awe:

 

[ultimatebob]

ummm, no. Most people don't even know what a UPS is.

Yeah... the average Joe thinks that a UPS is the brown truck that delivers their packages to them a day late.

 

[PepePeru]

during one of our ice storms, i was without power for 10 days at home, but my office still had power. The power company here would put outage and status reports on their website, I used the hell out of it then.

 

[skyking]

My cable modem and router are attached to a UPS so our laptops would have internet access for a couple of hours or more.

I'm hooked up the same way, but my ISP's systems don't last as long as mine. The interweb is down in minutes.